Glencoal, a subsidiary of New Zealand’s biggest dairy company, Fonterra, is the owner and operator of the Kopako mine, an open-cut coal mine located near Kopuku, approximately 70 kilometres south of Auckland. The mine produces sub-bituminous coal. [1]

In September 2012 Fonterra announced that Glencoal would be applying for resource consents to develop an open- coal mine on 30 ha of farmland that it owns near Maramarua in north Waikato. The proposed mine would replace the 18 year-old Kopako 3 mine, which is nearing the end of its working life. Glencoal has Government permits to mine the new property, which is expected to yield about 120,000 tonnes of coal a year. Fonterra uses coal to power its Hautapu, Te Awamutu and Waitoa plants in Waikato. The company’s national consents manager, David Wright, said he understood that the decision to open a new mine, rather than to obtain supplies from other companies such as Solid Energy, was because of the cost and security of supply.[2]